1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tents and, more particularly, to a novel tent apparatus and method, the apparatus including improvements in a self-contained tent support structure configurated as an integral part of the tent.
2. The Prior Art
Numerous tent structures are known in the art and include various forms of support structure for supporting the material of the tent in the desired configuration. Since the primary function of a tent is to provide a portable, temporary shelter and generally includes a fabric roof/sidewall configuration with an optional floor, various support structures have been proposed for supporting the fabric enclosure. For example, two types of framing structures are shown in each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,168,101 and 3,834,410. The former patent is relevant in that it discloses an external frame for a tent while the latter patent relates to a collapsible tent structure wherein the framework is fabricated with spring-loaded cables passing through the center of hollow pole elements. A similar folding tent is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,543,684. U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,213 discloses a tetrahedral-shaped tent having a rigid pole at each corner of the tetrahedral shape.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,502,898 and 3,794,054 relate to tent structures which are generally referred to in the art as umbrella-type tents. In particular, the lateral spars or ribs of the "umbrella" structure intersect with downwardly extending legs to provide the roof structure for the tent. The umbrella tent of the latter patent has the additional advantage in that an over-center action is obtained by pushing the central support column 20 upwardly into an over-center position, the over-center position forcing the poles to be bowed outwardly under tension thereby providing the appropriate structural configuration of the tent. However, with respect to this latter feature, it is well-known that a tent of any substantial dimensions requires a correspondingly increased amount of force in order to accomplish the foregoing placement of the poles under the outwardly bowed tension sufficient to maintain the structural integrity of the tent. In particular, the force required to erect a large tent having six poles wherein each are simultaneously placed under tension by an outwardly directed force utilizing the mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,054 would be substantially in excess of the amount of force that could be applied by any single individual. The force necessary to accomplish the foregoing can be readily calculated by taking into account the stiffness of the various poles, the number of poles, the weight of the tent, as well as the point at which the force is applied to the tent poles. For example, with respect to the latter consideration, attention is directed to the foregoing tent structure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,054 wherein it will be noted that the force is applied approximately midway between the joints of the folding tent pole structure thereby decreasing at least by half the leverage distance that would otherwise be available.
In view of the foregoing, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a novel, folding tent structure wherein the poles are configurated as an integral part of the tent structure. Another object of this invention would be to provide a novel umbrella-type tent structure wherein the umbrella mechanism for the tent structure is located externally and is individually and sequentially operable to thereby accommodate a tent structure having substantially greater dimensions than any of the prior art tent structures. Such a novel tent apparatus and method is disclosed and claimed herein.